In recent years, mobile wireless communications have become increasingly popular. Presently, mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), smartphones, cell phones, tablet PCs and other portable computers are rapidly gaining popularity. Mobile devices are available with interfaces enabling communications via mobile networks or local area network (LAN) wireless access points (hereinafter “wireless hotspot networks” or “hotspots”). Currently, mobile networks are operational that conform with the fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. These mobile networks provide voice communication, messaging, email and internet access (for example) by using radio frequency communication. Communications via hotpots may occur using a communications standard such as IEEE 802.11 (“WiFi”) network type wireless access points.
The mobile devices with capability of accessing to a mobile network and the hotspot network usually are sold at a point of sale (POS) of the mobile network carrier and activated for voice communication and data transfer at the POS at the time of purchase.
Recently, sales channels have diversified such that buyers can buy the mobile devices via websites and markets other than the POS of the mobile network carrier. In these later purchase channels, a buyer purchases only a mobile device via a website or another non-carrier market without buying a data plan to access the mobile network. Therefore the buyer needs to activate the mobile device on the buyer's own by buying the data plan of the mobile network or adding the device to an existing plan (e.g. instead of or in addition to other devices of the user). To facilitate this type of self-activation by a user, the mobile devices thus should have a limited accessibility to only websites or platforms of the appropriate mobile network carrier for activation of the mobile devices. General access via the hotspot or mobile network becomes available only after activation. Existing activation technologies, particularly for devices compatible with 4G LTE mobile networks, have not supported this limited access for self-activation.
In another scenario, a mobile device user has a previously activated mobile device with a prepaid voice and/or data plan for the mobile network. In such a case, the user is not allowed access to the mobile network, i.e., the device is effectively de-activated, when the prepaid balance has been used up. It would be desirable, from the standpoint of both the mobile network carrier and the user, to provide limited user access to only a website or platform of the carrier for the user to buy another prepaid voice and/or data plan (to “replenish” the prepaid amount). It would further be desirable, from the standpoint of the carrier to restrict the user's access to voice access and other websites until the device is re-activated.
In both cases, even if the mobile device tries to connect to an IP session with other websites (such as “Google” or “Yahoo”), a mobile device having limited access will need to go only to the website or platform of the mobile network carrier for activation of the mobile device.